Kitchen remodel, day three
A licensed electrical contractor's crew has been roughing in this kitchen since Monday. It is Wednesday. What's wrong here?
- Electrical work is underway with no Request for Electrical Inspection on file; it must be filed at or before the start of work
- The building permit in the window covers the electrical work, so nothing else is needed
- Countertop receptacles in a kitchen must be on 15 A circuits
- Nothing. This installation is compliant
Show the answer and the code reference
The answer
The crew is doing electrical work before a Request for Electrical Inspection has been filed. The form is still blank on the clipboard.
Correct choice: 1. Electrical work is underway with no Request for Electrical Inspection on file; it must be filed at or before the start of work
Minn. Stat. 326B.36 requires the contractor or installer to submit the Request for Electrical Inspection (the electrical permit), with its fees, at or before the start of any work that must be inspected. The request goes to DLI or, where a city runs its own program, to the city. DLI also requires an active request to be on file the whole time that work is being performed, so filing 'before we call for rough-in' is too late. The filing date also sets which NEC edition applies, and it puts the job on the inspector's radar. A building permit is a separate permit and does not stand in for the electrical request.
How to fix it
File the Request for Electrical Inspection and pay the fee now, before any more work is done, then schedule the rough-in before anything is covered. Expect a possible investigation fee for filing after the work started.
Code references
Minn. Stat. 326B.36 — Inspection
At or before the start of any installation required to be inspected, the contractor, installer, special electrician, or owner making the installation must submit a request for inspection, in the form the commissioner prescribes, together with the required fees.
Drills citing 326B.36Other DLI permit guidance — Request for Electrical Inspection
An active Request for Electrical Inspection must be on file whenever electrical work that requires inspection is being performed. An investigation fee may be charged when the request is not filed at or before the start of the work.
Drills citing DLI permit guidanceNEC 2023 210.11(C)(1) — Small-Appliance Branch Circuits
In addition to the number of branch circuits otherwise required, two or more 20-ampere small-appliance branch circuits shall be provided for the receptacle outlets specified by 210.52(B).
Drills citing 210.11(C)(1)
Minnesota
This drill tests the Minnesota permit and inspection requirement (Minn. Stat. 326B.36), not an NEC section. Cities that run their own electrical inspection program take the request locally, but it still has to be filed before work starts. The Board of Electricity adopted the 2026 NEC, also without amendment, for permits filed on or after Aug. 17, 2026 (exams moved to the 2026 NEC on Sept. 8, 2026); see the 2026 NEC note on this drill.
How Minnesota adopts the NECWhy the other choices are wrong
- The building permit in the window covers the electrical work, so nothing else is needed. In Minnesota, the electrical permit is a separate Request for Electrical Inspection filed with DLI or the local electrical inspection authority. A building permit does not cover the electrical work.
- Countertop receptacles in a kitchen must be on 15 A circuits. NEC 210.11(C)(1) requires two or more 20 A small-appliance branch circuits for kitchen countertop receptacles. The 12 AWG yellow cable is consistent with that.
- Nothing. This installation is compliant. The work may be fine, but it has been going on for three days with the inspection request still blank on the clipboard.